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Richter vs Willis

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
WillisWinner
82.2

Willis wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours

Richter
82.0

Richter wins: Longevity, Statistics

Candidates
Locked to American Football

Shareable URL · /compare/les-richter-vs-patrick-willis

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Patrick Willis
82.2

Willis leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Seven-time Pro Bowler and Hall of Fame linebacker at the heart of San Francisco's defence.

1. Patrick Willis
82.2
2. Les Richter
82.0

Category breakdown

Season form · Touchdowns per season

Career timeline · Touchdowns per season

Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.

GOAT pace tracker

Career stage · GOAT pace

Through season 5 · Touchdowns per season
1. 🇺🇸 Patrick Willis5 seasons played · career day 1,825692 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Les Richter5 seasons played · career day 1,82522 touchdowns
-96.8% vs Willis at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Richter00372235
🇺🇸 Willis00174315692911

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricRichterRetiredWillisRetired
Pro Bowls8
Career interceptions16
Games played112
Seasons played9
Hall of Fame inductions1
Pro Bowl selections7
First-team All-Pro selections5
Career tackles950
Defensive Rookie of the Year awards1
Super Bowl appearances1
Dominance w25%8082
Peak w20%9092
Longevity w20%7468
Honours w20%8084
Statistics w15%8886

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Willis82.2
Richter82.0
The people
Richter
Willis

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Make your case for Richter vs Willis. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.

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